Vendée Globe 2024: before departure, the SNCF asks travelers not to take stepladders on the train

The running boards stay in the cupboard. The SNCF anticipates the influx of visitors to Les Sables-d’Olonne (Vendée) this Sunday, November 10 for the big departure of the 2024 edition of the Vendée Globe and asks travelers not to use the train with stepladders or ladders.

Faced with the large number of curious people who will gather in the Vendée port, it is common for spectators to trick themselves to see better, using ladders, stepladders or steps allowing them to rise a few centimeters.

“Avoid bringing bulky items”

Special TGVs were also set up during the weekend, given the expected crowds. The TER Pays de la Loire, which serves the town of Vendée, launched this Monday, November 4, a call to visitors who will go there to visit the village and discover the boats of the navigators about to depart from this solo trip around the world.

A legendary race

The Vendée Globe is the most difficult event in ocean racing. It is nicknamed “the Everest of the Seas” and requires its participants to pass the three reference capes without assistance, during a journey of approximately 24,300 miles, or 45,000 km.

Born in 1989, the race takes place every four years with Imoca, 60-foot (18.28 m) monohulls designed to be able to face the toughest sea conditions on the planet. To validate their entry ticket for this 10th edition, the skippers have had to take the start of several transatlantic races over the last three years. The entire field is highly trained and the boats are more reliable than ever.

The fleet has 40 participants and only one former winner. Yannick Bestaven (Maitre Coq) won in 2021, after a journey full of twists and turns marked in particular by a departure in the middle of the Covid epidemic and the shipwreck of sailor Kevin Escoffier. The record holder for the race is still Armel Le Cléac’h who returned to Les Sables-d’Olonne after 74 days 3 hours and 35 minutes around the world between 2016 and 2017. The first ones in 2025 are expected in mid-January.